Panel Asks Midgetman Development

February 2, 1986|The New York Times

WASHINGTON — A special Pentagon advisory panel has concluded that the United States should begin full-scale development of a small, mobile intercontinental missile, according to sources familiar with the group`s deliberations.

The panel plans to say the missile, the Midgetman, would make American nuclear forces more capable of surviving a Soviet attack whether or not the United States and the Soviet Union agree on arms control.

The small, single-warhead missile, under serious study since 1983, would be deployed on armored launching trucks on military bases in the Western states. In a crisis, the vehicles would be dispersed to scattered sites inside the sprawling bases.

The report, to be delivered to senior Pentagon officials late this month, is by a study group of scientists and experts on strategic weapons headed by John M. Deutch, provost of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.